Why won't Single take my number?
in [Tables]
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From: Janie on 17 Mar 2010 10:43 I have a field with NUMBER datatype, SINGLE field size, Fixed format and 0 Decimals. When I enter the value 100317090407 the number rewrites itself as 100317100000. When I enter 100317090417 again I get 100317100000. When I enter 100317090499 once again I get 1003617100000. My number is clearly under then max for a Single 3.402823E38, so what is going on? If I set my field size to DOUBLE, I do not encounter the same problem, but I don't get it. Why do my numbers seem to have a mind of their own with the SINGLE field size?
From: Allen Browne on 17 Mar 2010 11:13 Single is a floating point number, with only around 7 significant digits. Use Double, or Decimal. -- Allen Browne - Microsoft MVP. Perth, Western Australia Tips for Access users - http://allenbrowne.com/tips.html Reply to group, rather than allenbrowne at mvps dot org. "Janie" <Janie(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:097C550D-F433-4365-A49D-B444B55BF167(a)microsoft.com... > I have a field with NUMBER datatype, SINGLE field size, Fixed format and 0 > Decimals. When I enter the value 100317090407 the number rewrites itself > as > 100317100000. When I enter 100317090417 again I get 100317100000. When I > enter 100317090499 once again I get 1003617100000. > > My number is clearly under then max for a Single 3.402823E38, so what is > going on? > > If I set my field size to DOUBLE, I do not encounter the same problem, but > I > don't get it. Why do my numbers seem to have a mind of their own with the > SINGLE field size?
From: Jeff Boyce on 17 Mar 2010 11:20 Janie Which version of Access? Where are you doing this? (directly in the table, via a form, ??) More info, please... Regards Jeff Boyce Microsoft Access MVP -- Disclaimer: This author may have received products and services mentioned in this post. Mention and/or description of a product or service herein does not constitute endorsement thereof. Any code or pseudocode included in this post is offered "as is", with no guarantee as to suitability. You can thank the FTC of the USA for making this disclaimer possible/necessary. "Janie" <Janie(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:097C550D-F433-4365-A49D-B444B55BF167(a)microsoft.com... >I have a field with NUMBER datatype, SINGLE field size, Fixed format and 0 > Decimals. When I enter the value 100317090407 the number rewrites itself > as > 100317100000. When I enter 100317090417 again I get 100317100000. When I > enter 100317090499 once again I get 1003617100000. > > My number is clearly under then max for a Single 3.402823E38, so what is > going on? > > If I set my field size to DOUBLE, I do not encounter the same problem, but > I > don't get it. Why do my numbers seem to have a mind of their own with the > SINGLE field size?
From: Janie on 17 Mar 2010 12:51 Hmmm ... when reading the description of Single it sounds w-a-y different! Up to seven decimal places and a maximum value of 3.402823 ^ 38 I get it ... I had already decided to go with Double .. but I wanted to understand the why of the behavior. So, bottom line is even though the maximum value is significantly higher, if I want something grater than a 7 digit number, stay away friom Single. Thanks for the enlightenment! "Allen Browne" wrote: > Single is a floating point number, with only around 7 significant digits. > > Use Double, or Decimal. > > -- > Allen Browne - Microsoft MVP. Perth, Western Australia > Tips for Access users - http://allenbrowne.com/tips.html > Reply to group, rather than allenbrowne at mvps dot org. > > > "Janie" <Janie(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:097C550D-F433-4365-A49D-B444B55BF167(a)microsoft.com... > > I have a field with NUMBER datatype, SINGLE field size, Fixed format and 0 > > Decimals. When I enter the value 100317090407 the number rewrites itself > > as > > 100317100000. When I enter 100317090417 again I get 100317100000. When I > > enter 100317090499 once again I get 1003617100000. > > > > My number is clearly under then max for a Single 3.402823E38, so what is > > going on? > > > > If I set my field size to DOUBLE, I do not encounter the same problem, but > > I > > don't get it. Why do my numbers seem to have a mind of their own with the > > SINGLE field size? > > . >
From: John W. Vinson on 17 Mar 2010 13:22
On Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:43:01 -0700, Janie <Janie(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: >If I set my field size to DOUBLE, I do not encounter the same problem, but I >don't get it. Why do my numbers seem to have a mind of their own with the >SINGLE field size? The Single datatype does indeed have a range to 10^38 or so... but it only has 24 bits of precision, equivalent to about 7 digits. If these values are some sort of identifier, i.e. a part number or the like, and you're not going to be doing any math calculations with them, you would be much better off storing them in a Text field (with an input mask to force all digits if that's what you want). This is doubly the case if you want leading zeroes. -- John W. Vinson [MVP] |